My Beloved Ferret: A Story of Animagi and Love
by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips
Summary: DG. Romance. Portkey challenge. Draco Malfoy has discovered his animagus: a ferret. Ginny Weasley has found her love of small animals. With Draco stuck seemingly permanently in ferret form, will Ginny figure out that her pet is her enemy? COMPLETE FINALLY
1. Chapter 1: Discovering his Inner Rodent

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

**Chapter One  
Draco Discovers his Inner Rodent**

It was _not_ funny, he would have been very quick to reassure you of that fact. It seriously was not funny. Things just weren't supposed to turn out this way. It was twisted, it was cruel, and it was just plain wrong. A person of his character and stature should have had the Animagus form of a wolf, a snake, or most ideally (he would think with his trademark smirk) a dragon. Yes, a dragon. That would fit a particularly fine specimen such as himself just perfectly.

He was not supposed to undergo all the preparations expecting some magnificent creature, undergo the transformation expecting some magnificent creature, turn to the mirror expecting some magnificent creature, only to be faced with… with… my goodness, he couldn't even think it. It was total embarrassment, complete humiliation. He could never face the wizarding community again, not knowing that his inner animal was a… was a...

Damn that Mad-Eye-Moody. Damn Potter, damn Weasley, damn Granger, and damn that insufferable Creevy just for good measure. And that Finnegan git. And that annoying little 2nd year in Hufflepuff… actually her whole little group of friends, too, and… but that was beside the point. The point was that he was a ferret, and he just knew, _knew_ that somehow that unbearable Golden Trio was to blame. Or perhaps just bad luck, they were all the same to him in his state of fury.

Draco looked sourly at the tiny paw that now replaced his hand, and smirked evilly at the sight of the claws that he could use to maul that damn Weasley's face in the middle of the night. Maybe it was useful, but this _ferret_ thing was much too shameful to be taken unnoticed. He would ask Granger...yes, he would definetly bully that ugly, beaver-toothed bookworm into telling him everything she knew about changing your Animagus.

Draco sighed and scampered out of the bathroom and back to McGonagall.

"I'm ready to change back now, Professor," he chattered in a small, high voice that was not quite his own.

McGonagall gave him the directions and within minutes Draco had mastered yet another talent: changing out of Animagus form.

Or so he thought.  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
A lioness and a lion both burst out of a closet, literally roaring with laughter. Draco's heart nearly stopped until he realized that the wild felines both had a humanly grin on their faces, and that the male had bright green eyes and hair as unruly as the lioness's was bushy.

"Potter! Granger," spat Draco, safely back into human form. "I could report you to a professor for bursting out like that in such a _dangerous_ form."

"Since when do you care about rules, Malfoy?" snarled Hermione Granger, her teeth sparkling pointedly at Draco. He swallowed. Those were some large teeth...Forget the tiny ferret claws, the ones on the bottom of Granger's paws could give that Hagrid oaf a great bloody wound and Potter's menacingly bared fangs could snap up a thinly sculpted seventeen-year-old like Draco whole.

Draco just sneered, and tried not to let on that his pride was hurt by an unpleasant surprise. How could he, Draco Malfoy, get such an unimportant creature such as a ferret, whereas some bloke probably got something as marvelous as--

"A dragon," squeaked Granger. She tackled Potter back into the closet and returned to human form, snatching the door shut behind her.

Draco looked up. A particularly tall beast, the dragon was most likely a Chinese Fireball with blazing brown eyes that sparkled impressively at him. The delicate snout and dainty features gave Draco reason to believe that it was--

"Ginny Weasley!" cried Professor McGonagall. "How dare you run about Hogwarts without having figured out how to control your fire?"

Just as the Professor said this, students came running out to gaze upward at the burned hole in the ceiling through which Ginny's snout poked through and the singed portraits around it. "I'm dying, I'm dying!" cried one portrait, clutching what would be the missing half of its occupant's body.

"Sorry, Professor," snorted Ginny, her voice ringing through a large puff of steam that seemed to everlastingly surrounding her head. And with that she changed back into a sixteen-year-old girl, her long red hair reaching her hips.

"I'm afraid I'll have to give you a detention...Help Professor Slughorn take care of the frogs. Be in his office at 10."

Ginny nodded obediently, walking away without a word. Neville Longbottom hurried down the hallway. Just as the idiot opened his mouth to speak, Potter and Granger the Lions burst out of a closet and nearly gave the boy a heart attack.

"Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry!" shrieked Granger, transforming back into a normal teenager. Well, at least normal in body, except for the beaver teeth.

Neville took no notice of her apology and ran after Ginny, calling her name.

The redhead turned around swiftly, her hair flying out behind her. "Yes?" she asked.

"You--you--" he panted, taking a moment to look into her dark brown eyes. His face seemed to struggle, and then he sighed and slumped over. "You left your diary in the library," he mumbled, handing a small pink journal to her.

"Oh!" exclaimed Ginny, taking it while giving Longbottom a warm, caring smile, her eyes with a glow so bright and filled with warmth that it made Draco shiver. "Thank you so much." Her expressive face now conveyed concern. "You didn't read any of it, did you?"

"N-no, of course not!" denied Longbottom. Draco snickered. The oaf.

"Good. Okay, then...well...um...Thanks, Neville!" Ginny grinned at him again and ran off, her sweet smile shining back.

Longbottom stumbled off, stopping by Draco long enough to ask what his animal was. Draco feebly transformed into his brave ferret form. And Longbottom--Longbottom dared to laugh! He walked away, snickering, whilst Draco made a sneer in his direction and opened his mouth to comment on his stuttering manner when all of the sudden he heard a booming "STUPEFY!" behind him.

Draco turned around, dizzy, and heard another yell of "STUPEFY!"

The tiny white ferret fell to the floor in an exhausted heap.


	2. Chapter 2: Amazing Albino Ferret Boy

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

**Chapter Two  
Draco Malfoy, The Amazing Albino Ferret Boy**

When Draco awoke, he could barely open his small blue-green eyes. A calm, soothing voice voice was whispering sweetly into his small, twitchy ears, and he felt something like a finger moving in circles on his tiny pink nose.

"Hey there, little ferret," came the voice. "Are you okay now?"

Draco tried to focus his bleary vision, only to find that the owner of the pleasant voice was Ginny Weasley. Her red hair was hanging over her athletic shoulders, and her freckles sprinkled over her nose. Draco opened his mouth to say something, but discovered that his ability to speak had been completely revoked and instead, his new vocabulary was limited to some squeaks and small, contented sighs.

"Have you got an owner, boy?" asked Weasel Girl, stroking his back gingerly and checking his neck for a collar or some means of identification.

Draco scowled. How dare Weasel Girl go around touching him like this! Now Ginny picked him up _by the bottom _and _slinking her skinny arm around his waist_ and carried him away, off to Gryffindor Tower.

"Password?" asked the portrait of the Fat Lady. _More like the lazy, drunken, obese slob, _sniffed Draco. Clearly, this is what Gryffindor is represented by. Draco smirked, then glared at Weasel's grimy hand touching his silky Slytherin coat.

"Stupid Slytherins," stated Ginny. Draco felt his blood boiling in his ferret veins. How dare they! And who assigned the passwords, anyway? _It was probably some stupid trick, performed by none other than that positively sickening triad of idiots._ Draco thought angrily about stupid Potty and his ugly girlfriend, Bookworm Granger. Draco was utterly shocked to find that her Animagus was not a squirrel. And what of Potter, Draco continued. He smirked to himself about the bigheaded git transforming only to come to the conclusion that his Animagus was a toilet seat. Oh, and let's not forget Weasel. Weasel-bee the Master of Jealousy. What was his Animagus, anyway? An amoeba? He could be blasted off the face of the earth and his own bloody sister wouldn't notice.

Speaking of said sibling, Ginny was hurrying excitedly towards a gaggle of gag-worthy Gryffindor girls, who were chirping on about some stupid date one of them went on with a good-looking boy from Ravenclaw house.

"Terry Boot," gushed...what was her name, not Violet, but Lavender! Yes, Lavender Brown, talking so fast that she was sputtering, "is the most absolutely sweetest, smartest, and sexiest man alive!"

"That's not true! He might be all of those things, but no one tops Colin Creevey," giggled a sixth-year, Petty, oops, no, Patty.

"Colin Creevey? Sexy?" The good-looking one of the bunch, the Indian one, Parvati, gave a great laugh. "Try Harry! Too bad he's bloody taken."

"I think that...that seventh-year from Slytherin is cute! The one with the platinum blonde hair!" piped up a fourth-year. Draco didn't know whether to smarm and wink or to throw up and lock himself in his trunk.

"Eww! Draco Malfoy? The amazing girly man!" laughed Lavender. _What a big nose she's got!_ scowled Draco to himself.

"Ha! If he's not gay, then I'm a troll!" squealed Patty, sucking in her malicious laughter. _Actually, the resemblance between you and a troll is quite uncanny, _spat Draco in his head.

"But he's cute," Parvati suggested. "Worst personality alive, but he's quite good looking."

Draco smoothed the hair on his head down with a paw while Ginny cried, "Look! I've found a ferret!"

"Aww! He's adorable!" cooed Annabelle, a sixth-year.

"Has he got an owner?"

"Since he had no tags, I think I can say proudly that I am the owner of this gorgeous ferret!"

"He's the cutest thing I've ever seen! Let's give him a name," squeaked Julianna Everglade.

"You know who he looks like?" squawked that insufferable Patty. "Draco Malfoy!"

"Haha! Let's call him Draco Malfoy, the amazing albino ferret!"

Ginny shook her head. "My brother would kill me. But Draco is cute, and I've had a bit of a crush on him...Dra...co..." Ginny thought a moment. "Cocoa!"

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Patty.

"He's pure white! What stupid idiot would name him Cocoa?" she complained.

"Me," replied Ginny coldly. She flew up the stairs, clutching Draco in her arms. Julianna and and a golden-blonde girl, Robyn, followed her.

Ginny sighed and flung herself onto the bed, still pinning Draco to her chest. Finally, she set him down on her bedside table and clicked open her trunk, rummaging around for some old blankets. She gently wrapped him in them, and nestled him at the bottom of her bed. "There!" she exclaimed happily as she finished.

"He's adorable," smiled Robyn.

"How did you find him?" asked Julianna curiously.

"He was passed out in a corridor, poor thing." Ginny stroked the area between his ears with her pointer finger. _Does she realize she is poking my head? _Draco complained to himself.

"I wish I had a cute pet," Robyn sighed, petting him. Draco hissed at her, but the girl only giggled.

"He's hilarious!" Julianna laughed.

"Ugh, I'm tired," Ginny groaned. "I'm going to change..."

"Yeah, me too," agreed Robyn. And with that, she ripped off her cloak. Draco gasped as he realized what was coming next. He smirked and watched...but just as Robyn started undoing her shirt's buttons, he covered his eyes with the blanket. For some reason, Draco felt he should give them privacy. He poked his eyes out after he felt Ginny sit down on the bed, disgusted with himself. Was he some sort of cowardly Hufflepuff? Didn't he have any manly Slytherin pride?

"He's a sweet little ferret boy, isn't he?" cooed Robyn, smiling down on him.

"Yes, he is," Ginny agreed. Within minutes, the girls were asleep and snoring...and 'Cocoa' would begin phase one of his escape plan.


	3. Chapter 3: A SnowCovered Ferret

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN: Prepare to be annoyed by the insufferably annoying twelve-year-old hamster fanatics.  
Also, I forget to put this on the first 2 chapters, so this goes for the whole story: The characters you recognize do not belong to me. Sadly, they are the property of JK Rowling, who feels the need to maul certain character's personalities. It is for this reason that I am ignoring most of Ginny and Hermione's character "development" from book 6. Ginny is back to the sweet, kind, shy girl we used to know instead of a raving bitch disguised as Miss Perfect, and Hermione is back to the lovable bookworm, not the catty...thing...we met in HBP.

Thanks for Reading and Reviewing! Keep Reviewing and I will surely update more D __

**Chapter Two  
A Snow-Covered Ferret**

Draco scowled as he found that he wasn't the most nimble ferret there was. He picked himself up from his flat position on the floor by Weasel Girl's bed and trotted away, refusing to let his dignity be hurt or even touched by the small stumble. He looked back over his shoulder at the sleeping redhead. Her glistening red hair was gathered in a long ponytail, her pale hands on the pillow beside her head. Her expression was calm and sweet, her face glowing in the cold darkness. Draco continued to strut away. His first mission was to get out of the disgusting Gryffindor environment. 

Draco crept through the portrait hole, making sure to spit at the Fat Lady (who was honking like a flock of geese in her sleep) and then scampered down the corridor. He wanted to get to Slytherin house as fast as possible, so he made sure to take the shortcut through the trophy room. Unfortunately, he was oblivious to the fact that Filch and his filthy beast Mrs. Norris were lurking there.

"AHA! Go get 'im, Norry!" barked Filch. Mrs. Norris hissed, her whole body shaking, and darted after Draco, whose clumsy ferret paws seemed too tired to run.

The two animals scurried about the hallways until Mrs. Norris had chased Draco outside, into the chilly snow. He squeaked at her, and she growled and flew away, into the dark shelter of the castle. Filch locked the doors behind her, so Draco decided to simply stay outside and change into human form. He strutted off so Filch wouldn't catch Human Draco and punish him. Finally, Draco sat by the edge of the lake and--promptly, realized he forgot how to change back.

Draco panicked, his tiny ferret teeth chattering in the cold. He paced in little ferret circles around the tree and racked his brain for any memory of what McGonagall had told him. However, he didn't remember a single thing about that day...the only thing he remembered was turning into a ferret for the first time. Everything else about yesterday--or had it been the day before? Or today? Draco didn't know--had gone from his mind.

The snow began to fall heavier and heavier as Draco the Ferret grew drowsier and drowsier...

His dizzy eyes watch the fast flurries until he plopped on the ground, covered by a mound of snow, fast asleep.

Laine Maple opened up her eyes bright and early on Saturday morning. She dressed in her black sweatpants and yellow Hufflepuff hoodie, then smacked awake her four friends who also were in her Second Year Hufflepuff dormitory. Amber, Peach, Sunny and Flo were Laine's best friends, so she waited for them to get up. Flo was the last to tumble out of the bathroom, half-asleep, but soon the five chipper Hufflepuffs were all bounding downstairs to breakfast. After a few quick waffles doused in as much sugary syrup as possibly, they all skipped outside to run around in the snow that was halfway up their short, plump calves.

"Last one to reach the big tree has to eat a bubotuber plant!" screeched Amber. They all darted off, Flo lagging behind considerably, until Laine stepped on something squashy and heard a shrill, "EEEK!"

She stopped and stared at the ground and heard the squeams and squeaks of a small animal.

Her pals trudged back. Amber stuck an ugly, writhing green plant in her face. "Here's your bubotuber," she told her friend. "You did even worse than Flo this time."

"Just swallow it in one gulp, it won't stick as much and the pimples on your face will only last two weeks instead of three!" suggested Flo.

"No, no.." Laine whimpered, and tears fell from her eyes as she began to cry. "I think I stepped on something!"

Sunny dug through the snow, grabbing a limp white rodent from under a pile of snow.

"What is it?" asked Amber eagerly.

"I think it's a bunny-rabbit," Flo said stupidly.

Laine began to cry harder. "I HURT THE BUNNY-RABBIT!"

"Is it dead?" asked Amber, just as eagerly.

"I think so," chittered Flo, her stupidity increasing by the second.

Laine wailed, tears streaming down her chubby face. "I KILLED A BUNNY-RABBIT!"

"No, it might not be," chattered Sunny. "How are we going to tell?"

"Oooh, I know, let's poke it!"

Peach stuck a fat finger out and poked the 'bunny rabbit' hard in the chest. He squealed, shrieked, and flumped down on the ground.

Laine snorted, sniffling and crying. "THE EVIL BUNNY-RABBIT HAS RISEN FROM THE DEAD AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"

"A-shush-er, Laine, I don't think he was ever dead."

"He wasn't?" Laine brightened. "HOORAY, FOR THE EVIL ZOMBIE BUNNY-RABBIT LIVES!"

Draco opened his little ice-blue eyes and tried to grumble. He hadn't had a very nice sleep, and now he felt as if someone had stuck something in his chest. He looked around and saw the insufferable Hufflepuff girl, Laine Whatsit, and her idiotic little friends, all beaming down at him.

"AWW!" piped up Peach. "LEMME SEE THE BUNNY-RABBIT!"

_BUNNY RABBIT?_ Draco shouted in his head, outraged. _I just might be able to accept ferret, but I am NO bunny-rabbit!_

"He's adorable!"

"Let's keep him as a pet hamster!" Flo suggested. The idiocy hurt Draco's brain.

"Yeah! Yeah!"

Draco rolled his eyes.

"Let's give him a name!" shouted Amber.

"BUNNY!" cried Laine eagerly.

"HAMMY!" shouted Flo.

"BUNNY!"  
"HAMMY!"  
"BUNNY!"  
"HAMMY!"  
"BUNNY!"  
"HAMMY!"  
"BUNNY!"  
"HAMMY!"  
"BUNNY!"  
"HAMMY!"

"SHUSH!" interrupted Amber. "I declare the half-dead beast...BUNNY-HAMMY!"

Draco gagged. Laine picked him up and squished him around his middle. Draco felt his eyes bugging out. What was the beastly little girl trying to do, kill him? Draco wriggled desperately, but nothing could defeat the deadly hold of the second-year. Draco thought back. Was he this obnoxious at this age? No! He couldn't have been!

"Let's take Bunny-Hammy to the common room and play dress up with him and all of those fluffy puff-ball hats the House-elves gave us!"

"Which ones?"

"The ones they found in Gryffindor common room but didn't want."

"Oh yea! Cool! Bunny-Hammy can be a puffball rabbit-hamster!"

Draco felt like he was about to weep. How could he have been raised in such an elegant, sophisticated, nearly ROYAL environment as the Malfoy Manor only to end up as a twitchy albino ferret who was being repeatedly mistaken as a rabbit-hamster who enjoyed being dressed in fluffy Gryffindor hats that had once belonged to house-elves?

Staying with Weasel Girl was starting to look really good.

SNEAK PEEK-CHAPTER 4  
**Ginny's Distress**

"Hey, Hermione!" called Ginny cheerfully as she entered the seventh-year girl's dormitory. "I have to come show you my pet ferret!"  
"A ferret?" Hermione looked up in interest. "Aww, I want to see!"  
They went back to Ginny's bedroom, where Ginny proudly rummaged through the bundle of blankets where Cocoa slept at the foot of her bed.  
But, much to her surprise, Cocoa was not in his blanket. "Cocoa?" Ginny called, peeking under her bed and checking under the comforters. She looked in every nook and cranny of her dorm, her lower lip trembling.  
Hermione and Ginny scoured Gryffindor Tower, calling Cocoa's name and asking everyone if they had seen a little white ferret. Still...  
Cocoa the Ferret was nowhere to be seen.


	4. Chapter 4: Ginny's Distress

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN: I know, it's pretty short, but I had writer's block and I had good ideas for chapter 5 so I kind of rushed this one C BUT DON'T WORRY I WILL RETURN WITH A NEW CHAPPIE LATER TODAY OR TOMORROW! D

**Chapter Four  
Ginny's Distress  
**  
"Hey, Hermione!" called Ginny cheerfully as she entered the seventh-year girl's dormitory. "I have to come show you my pet ferret!"

"A ferret?" Hermione looked up in interest. "Aww, I want to see!"

They went back to Ginny's bedroom, where Ginny proudly rummaged through the bundle of blankets where Cocoa slept at the foot of her bed.

But, much to her surprise, Cocoa was not in his blanket. "Cocoa?" Ginny called, peeking under her bed and checking under the comforters. She looked in every nook and cranny of her dorm, her lower lip trembling.

Hermione and Ginny scoured Gryffindor Tower, calling Cocoa's name and asking everyone if they had seen a little white ferret. Still...

Cocoa the Ferret was nowhere to be seen.

Ginny had her head buried in her arms at lunch, leaning on the table in a depressed position. Hermione plopped down next to her.

"Hey," Hermione began softly, putting a hand on her friend's arm. "Don't worry. We'll find him."

Ginny sniffled, her chin wobbling. "I always wanted a pet, and now I finally get one, and I lose it after one night!"

"Ginny, we'll get him."

Lavender Brown walked over. "Ginny, I'm so sorry about Cuckoo. He was a really cute ferret."

Ginny scowled. "His name is COCOA!"

"Oh. Yeah. Well, I hope you find him." Lavender shuffled away.

Ginny looked over at the Hufflepuff table. Five second-years were huddled around something...It squeaked. Ginny lifted her head up and peered at what they were holding. It was Cocoa, scowling at them malevolently!

"HERMIONE!" cried Ginny. "IT'S COCOA!"

Hermione and Ginny wove in and out between tables and people until they reached the short blonde with the pigtails who was holding Cocoa. She wore a pink bandana over the pigtails and had her short nose turned up in the air. Her fingernails were short, stubby, and covered with bright red nail polish. She was wearing overalls and a yellow sweatshirt under her cloak.

"What do you want, freaks?" she asked in a nasty voice.

"Sorry to bother you, but I believe you have my ferret," Ginny told her sweetly.

The five girls laughed, and the dorky one with frizzy auburn hair and Coke-bottle glasses who was sitting in the back spoke up.

"Idiot. That's a rabbit, not a ferret. Ferrets are imaginary."

The girls continued to snort and giggle.

"His name is Cocoa, and he's just a baby ferret. May I have him back please?"

"His name isn't Cocoa. His name is Bunny-Hammy, first of all, and second, he is NOT a ferret at all! He's a bunny-rabbit, and he's our pet hamster!" screeched the blonde.

"Come on, Amber, let's go," said the orange-haired girl with the green sweatshirt.

"Yeah. These are just bunny-stealer freaks," muttered another.

The stupid one who had suggested that Cocoa was a rabbit stuck her tongue out at Ginny, and marched away with her friends.

"Hermione! You're HEAD GIRL. Please get him back for me?"

Hermione looked at her friend sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Ginny, but I--"

She stopped and smiled, her eyes getting a faraway look. "Ginny, I do have an idea...I just have to go...tell something--first--ohhh...wow!"

Hermione dashed off in the middle of the sentence, probably to the library.

Ginny thunked her head down on the table miserably. "Don't worry," said her brother mock-consolingly. "She does that to everyone. A lot."

"Oh, thanks, that helps loads," Ginny muttered.

Draco scowled all through the morning and early afternoon as the idiotic Hufflepuff fools insisted on dressing him in frilly doll dresses and woolen caps that were orange, fuzzy, and monstrous. They made hot tea in squat yellow cups and thrusted the concoction upon him, scorching his neat fur. Draco couldn't believe how disgusting they could be. By one o'clock, he had been dragged around all of Hogwarts in a pink tea skirt that even had a miniature corset top (which constrained his breathing) and a large furry hat. Worse, all of the giggling third-year girls squealed and squawked about how adorable he was. When he was human, he didn't mind ladies fawning over him. He had a natural aura of sexy around him and he knew it. But he also was aware of the fact that when he was a ferret, the sexy probably faded out.

"Hannah!" screeched the Amber idiot. "Oh, cousin Hannah, come and meet my new pet rabbit-hamster!"

Hannah Abbott was a seventh-year Hufflepuff who used to always wear her hair in pigtails. Draco realized that they had to be cousins: the resemblance, not to mention hairstyles, were uncanny.

"He's quite cute," grimaced Hannah distastefully, "But I have an end-of-unit exam in Honors Muggle Studies and I need to find that Hermione Granger girl so she can explain to me again what a cellular phone is. Bye, Amber."

She walked away briskly, in search of Granger, which gave Draco an idea: Why not run away and find Granger while she was tutoring someone and see if she would be tutoring an Animagus? He'd have to figure out a plan somehow, but he knew it would work eventually.

Now first, he needed to get out of this embarrassing dress.

Hermione came out of the library, looking flushed. She'd just "tutored" with Harry--really, it was just an excuse so they would be allowed to talk in the library--and he'd helped her with an idea she'd had to get Cocoa safely back into Ginny's loving arms.

And now it was time to commence with 'Operation: Confiscate the Ferret'.


	5. Chapter 5: Operation Confiscate Cocoa

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

**Chapter Four  
Ginny's Distress**

AN: Operation: Confiscate the Ferret is now in action. With added shippy goodness for any Harmonians who are peeking in here--I KNOW YOU ARE OUT THERE! Sexual tension, how fuuun. cough Anyways...

If you ask why they're together...it's because it's convenient and it will later give me a plot devices. And as most fanfickers know, plot devices are helpful things )  
Anyway, I needed Hermy to get a new boyfriend and didn't feel like expanding on a lesser character. So I just put her with Harry.

There is a lot of...drama...in this chapter. Lol. To those allergic to drama here is a free muffin. Enjoy even if your tongue swells up Oo

The mood kinda quickly goes from funny to Oh-Em-Gee! The Melodrama!

I'll be better next chappie, methinks.  
**  
Chapter Five  
Operation: Confiscate the Ferret**

OPERATION CONFISCATE THE FERRET. **  
**Most people who have spiffy titles like that for their missions are stars of spy action movies, or are spies living a life like an action movie. If it is a movie, there is usually a scene of the spy in question preparing with their spy gear, snapping on their belts, loading their guns, etc. For Hermione, it meant throwing on her new, black Hogwarts robes, pinning her hair back so she would look professional, and adjusting and wearing her shiny Head Girl badge to make her seem even more official. And just to make matters more intimidating for the bratty second years who refused to hand back Cocoa and who refused to accept the fact that ferrets are not imaginary, she took the Head Boy (who was Harry) as well. But first, she made him comb his hair.  
**  
**She marched down the stairs, looking both regal and business-like, her hand clasped firm around Harry's wrist (he seemed quite confused that she was basically dragging him down to the Hufflepuff common room). They came to the arched brick opening of the tunnel which would open and become a hole in the wall that was Hufflepuff common room.

"Pickle," she stated clearly. The gray brick wall opened from the inside out. Since she was still grabbing Harry and she was much shorter, he knocked his head on the ceiling of the wretched tunnel a few times, but he was all right after she spat, "Would you like me to rub it and kiss it for you?" (When he teased her by saying "Yes", she scowled eerily and her eyes nearly turned red, so he shut his mouth tight and just continued to follow her lead.)  
**  
**Hermione cleared her throat. She looked a bit conceited with her head held up so high, but Harry didn't mind--he was used to it, and he knew what she really thought of herself, so he didn't bother--and it just did more to scare the little Hufflepuffs, so it was good. "Would Laine Maple, Amber Abbott, Peaches Andcream, Sunny Midnight, and Flo...Floflo...all please come here? With their ferret, please." Hermione gave a Crest-White-Strips smile and batted her eyelashes at a nearby second-year boy, then winked suggestively. The boy turned red and nodded, grinning, then scampered off to fetch them.

He must've really liked Hermione, because within seconds the reluctant fivesome were assembled on a big yellow couch before the seventh years, ferret and all. Peaches, Sunny, and Laine were all slouching considerably and Flo looked depressed--then again, she was usually depressed--but like Hermione, Amber was all business. Harry could sense the clashing personalities all the way from Trelawney's room.

"Thank you, Eduardo," smiled Hermione mock-sweetly, patting the boy on the head. His eager face fell, and he walked away, sighing. "Anyway, hello, _children_." Harry could hear the contempt in her voice when she nearly vomited the word _children. _He tried very hard to hold in the laughter that was creeping around the edge of his stomach, tickling his ribs, and inching up his windpipe.

"I am here to save you from a lot of trouble." Amber stared at the speaking Hermione unblinkingly, her lips quavering as she tried to look innocent and unsurprised. "As you surely remember from your Hogwarts letter"--here Hermione slapped Harry on the shoulder blade as she slid an arm around his neck, so he pulled out the letter from his robes hurriedly--"it tells you that you may bring _one_ pet to Hogwarts and it may be an _owl, cat, _or a _toad_."

Hermione stared pointedly at Harry as if he was supposed to say something at this moment, and cleared her throat impatiently. So he coughed and then sheepishly blurted out, "And, uh, you have a ferret...uh, yea."

Harry could've sworn that Hermione's eyeballs were shooting little grenades that were going to blow his head open, any second now, but she continued talking in a voice as sweet as a spoonful of sugar.

"Yes, you have a ferret. Which I am sad to say, I must confiscate." Again she looked at Harry, who looked back questioningly, and then she gave an approving little nod, so he added:

"Yeah. Um, sorry about that."

Hermione sighed exasperatedly and thunked him on the back again, nearly knocking the wind out of him ("OH!" he gasped) and this time, pretending she was just aiming to slink an arm around his waist. She hugged him close to her with her left arm and tilted her head. She must've thought it looked more cute and innocent, and well-meaning. "So hand over the ferret, and I won't tell anyone about this incident, and you won't get in trouble."

Hermione took the ferret, who promptly scampered away as a second-year began to cry.

Laine started wailing. "BUT--BUT HE'S MY BUNNY-RABBIT HAMSTER!"

Harry started, "Actually, he's a ferret, so--" Hermione clapped a hand over his mouth and shoved him into the wall, then noticed that some sixth years were staring, so she threw him into a hug. _What am I, her little toy doll? _thought Harry, but he willingly let her toss him around the room. He was, as previously mentioned, much taller, so she couldn't really do much harm--

WHACK.  
"Harry, you stupid idiot!" After her fist connected solidly with his nose, Hermione punched Harry in the chest twice, and then went one last time in the stomach. "You're such a stupid...ugh!"  
She turned around, her hair whipping in Harry's face (making his eye sting) and then she twirled and noticed he was on the ground.  
"OH! HARRY! I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "Oh...you're bleeding!" Hermione gasped and wrung her heads, eyes searching wildly for her wand. "I'm so sorry..."  
She waved her wand a few times, and Harry's nose was returned to normal. "Here, let me see..." She pulled him into the nearest room--incidentally, the Room of Requirement--and took off his shirt. "Ohh...ow."

Her hands brushed over a bruise she had given him. "I'm sorry," she whispered, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "It's just that I've been so stressed lately with schoolwork and NEWTS and this ferret business and Ron--"

Hermione's lip trembled, her emotions tipping precariously, and then the waterworks started. She burst into tears, Harry pulling her into a comforting hug. 

Cocoa the ferret watched from a few feet away, extremely irked. Could Potty put his shirt back on so Cocoa could get Granger to turn him back into a human, please?

_I said please,_ thought Draco. _I'm in the Room of Requirement. It's filled with books and guides on Animagus Transformations and Transfiguration, and there's a picture of me, the human hanging up on the wall by the bookshelf. Granger is supposed to be brainy. Just when is she going to take the hint?_

Now Potty and his girlfriend were having a cuddling session while the beaver sobbed incessantly and told an interminable tale about a belief that Ron was going to dump her and that their friendship would be spoiled forever. _Boo hoo._

They shared some consoling words, hugs, and sniffles--Draco struggled to hold in his vomit--and then, something happened. Something, that, if Draco became human again, he could use to spread some rumors. Some very bad rumors.

Harry took Hermione's chin between his thumb, nudged it up a bit higher with his pointer finger, and kissed her.

On the lips.

And she kissed back.

Hermione sat on the floor of the Room of the Requirement, practically in Harry's lap, shocked. She stared at the shirtless Harry dazedly. His bright green eyes softened, and he looked a little scared and a lot confused. And very surprised with himself.

"I'm so sorry, 'Mione..." he whispered, sounding shaken. "I was just watching you and it slipped away from me and I couldn't help it..."

Hermione felt dizzy. She felt herself trembling from bushy-haired head to currently barefooted toe. She had just kissed Harry, or rather, he had kissed her, or more accurately they kissed each other, and she was dating Ron...Hermione stared at her hand. It was shaking very hard, like the rest of her body.

She felt like she was going to throw up because her head was spinning so fast. She loved Harry...very much...but it hurt so much that he dated so many other girls that by sixth year, she tried her hardest to give up on him. She knew through it all, she found Ron cute but their fights were scary, and that deep down her heart still ached and longed for Harry...but he didn't like her. She was sure of it.

So why did he kiss her?

Hermione looked over at Harry, her big brown eyes blinking, frightened, at him.

"Did you want to?" she breathed. "Kiss me, I mean?"

He drew closer to her, and took her hand. "Yes...I guess I did."

Hermione felt a little faint. She tried to get to her feet, but the Room of Requirement had conveniently had her placed on a bed. She just lay and look up at the ceiling for a few minutes, and watched her surroundings. Harry's eyes were intent on her until out of his peripheral vision he saw a little white tail flicker.

"It's that damned ferret," he muttered, and grabbed it. It yelped and bit him.  
(AN: It will be hard to get Harry and Draco to like each other. Really hard.)

"Hermione?" Harry called. "Are you all right?"

"I guess so," she spoke blankly.

"Do you want to stay here...do you want me to stay with you?" he murmured.

"I don't know..." Hermione brightened when she saw Cocoa. "Oh, is that the ferret then? We should get him back to Gin..."

"I suppose...Hermione, I just...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"Don't be." She grabbed his hand. "Don't worry about me."

"I can't help it."

"Just don't worry about that kiss." She smiled warmly. "Don't."

Harry tried not to look at her, but it was very hard. She continued on, "I'll take him back myself. You can...you don't have to come."

"No, I w--" Harry started, but then stopped. "Okay."

Hermione's hand flew to his arm. "Come on..."

Now she was teasing. Her voice got a know-it-all tone like that of her young youth. "Honestly, Harry, how do you expect to get anything done at all if you're just moping around all day?"

Harry smiled. "Okay, I'm going."

And he walked off down the hall, not knowing where he was going or how long it would take to mend his broken heart.

When Hermione walked into the common room holding Cocoa with a bright smile on her face, the first thing Ginny noticed (after hugging Cocoa at least) was that the grin was completely fake. The second thing she noticed was that Hermione's lip gloss was smudged, and the third thing that confirmed that something was wrong was the subtle tears that stained Hermione's cheeks.

"Hey, Gin," started Hermione. "I'm feeling a bit tired, think I'm going to--"

"You," Ginny snapped. "Upstairs. Now."

When they were settled on Ginny's four-poster with the door locked, Ginny finally started talking in complete sentences.

"First of all, thank you for finding my ferret and isn't he adorable?" Ginny stroked her pet's silky white fur. "Second. I'm guessing you heard about it."

Hermione looked inquisitively at her friend. "What?"

Ginny looked shocked. "The biggest bloody scandal in all of Hogwarts, that's what!"

Hermione's eyes looked up. "What are you talking about, Gin?"

Ginny felt a drop in her stomach. What besides the scandal could Herm be talking about? Whatever it was, it was only going to make finding out about the scandal worse.

"You tell me first, Herm: _What the bloody hell are you talking about?_"

So Hermione went on to tell Ginny about everything and the awkward kiss she shared with Harry. Ginny started shaking.

"I'm going to kill my brother," she cried out loud, and Hermione saw a tear fall from Ginny's eye.

"What? Why...Ginny!" Hermione knew she sounded very scared.

Ginny got up and promptly fell back down on the bed. She held her head in her hands.

"Ginny..."

"My git of a brother has been cheating on you and accusing you of cheating on him!" Ginny cried. She got up and stormed out of the dormitory.

Hermione sighed. She knew that something like this had been coming. She turned and looked a picture that was on Ginny's bedside table. There was Hermione between Harry and Ron, with Neville, Ginny and Luna also in the picture. They were all laughing.

The sun streamed through Ginny's curtains and then suddenly seemed to set angrily, the furious night settling over and setting the mood for a dawn of disaster.


	6. Chapter 6: Scrubbing Away Troubles

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN: I know last chapter was pretty weird but it was kind of important to the story! Now I give you...GINNY/COCOA BATHTUB TIME!  
AN2: I know, it's short. Sorry. Few things:  
cliffhanger. Hehe. I'm evil today.  
I am NOT, NOT NOT NOT A RON-HATER!  
Cocoa is cute D  
I AM NOT A RON-HATER! I swear to God. NOT a Ron-Hater. Ron is one of my favorite characters. Just keep reading, you will find out his motives...next chapter...Bwahaha!  
Sorry it took me like 2 months to update but I have been unbelievably busy and...yeah.

**Chapter Six  
Scrubbing Away Troubles**

_Dear Mum,_

I am writing this letter to inform you that your son, RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY, has been a very bad boy.

Actually, he has been downright horrid and heartless.

Mum, we know Ron's a good person deep down, but you know how he's been saying that Hermione's cheating on him? HE'S the one cheating on HER! I caught him in an unused classroom with some girl who WASN'T Hermione.

What are we going to do, Mum?

PS--Other than that I have been fine at Hogwarts. Did you know I found a new pet ferret? His name is Cocoa!

Love,

Ginny

Ginny put down her quill and reread her letter. She decided to just send it as it was, so she tied it to Pig's leg and sent him off. And then she picked up a brush and started combing her long, flaming red hair. To anyone who didn't know Ginny too well it would seem random, but Ginny's close friends and family understood that when she brushed her hair she found it easier to think. Her thoughts ambled on aimlessly, and her mind was lost to the world of stray sentences and scenes playing over and over again in her head.

Ginny pondered and pondered until she felt her headache get suddenly worse, at which time she decided it might be best to take a bath. She always found them relaxing, and maybe while she was at it she could give Cocoa a little bath too. He had white fur and so she figured his fur needed to be cleaned often so he wouldn't look dirty.

"Cocoa!" Ginny called softly. He didn't come to her call, or even look up, and Ginny felt a flutter of panic thumping in her chest, but then she found him lurking around on her bed.

"Naughty little boy!" She scooped him up and peered at his little face. "Don't make me panic."

_Oh, but it's so fun to make you panic! _thought Draco, smirking.

"Now I thought it might be nice if both of us took a bath. I know of a nice little one a bit down the hall from here. It's very clean, unlike the Gryffindor's girls one...I mean, how are 35 girls supposed to share two bathrooms? It's completely ridiculous! Anyway, both of us are going to get cleaned up a bit, okay?"

Draco sniffed. He always took his baths in the Prefects bathroom, it being grander than any other in the entire school. Except when that absolutely vile Moaning Miranda invaded. Then it was wretched. Minnie (or whatever her name was) was always trying to sneak a glance at Draco with his clothes off!

Oh, well. No need to worry about that now. Ginny didn't seem to be one to believe that owners should dress up their pets, so nowadays Draco ran around naked nevermind whether or not he was taking a bath. It was one of the few downsides of being Ginny's pet: otherwise, he was fed, pampered, and patted, and led a generally luxurious lifestyle.

Draco snorted in disgust at his own thoughts. Since when did being fed ferret food and being scratched behind the ears count as luxurious pampering? No, he was still on a mission to corner Granger and get it through her thick bookworm skull that he was Draco Malfoy and he was in need of changing back into his normal species.

Ginny carried a towel and bathing supplies under one arm and cradled Cocoa with the other. Finally she nudged open a small door with her foot. It must've been old, because it was so short that if Draco were human he would've knocked his head on it. It would be a laugh to see Weasel Boy try and get through it. He would knock his long nose off.

Ginny got the bathwater running and poured in lots of bubbles. She absent-mindedly started looking at the mirror in the room and touched the bottom of her old shirt, wincing.

Then--so quick Draco didn't even get a chance to admire her figure--she ripped off her clothing and fled to the safety of the thick blanket of bubbles that flowed over the top of the bathtub. She sunk underneath them and sighed. Draco pretended to play the curious ferret, inching along the edge of the bathtub. Then he conveniently fell in.

Ginny giggled and scooped him up in her arms. "It's a good thing you're not a human boy!"

Draco snorted. _If only you knew who I really was..._

Eventually, it was time to get back to the dormitory. Ginny wielded a hairdryer and tortured poor Draco/Cocoa with it. The end result was a poofed-up ball of fur with tiny, grayish-green eyes poking through the masses of snow-white hair.

Ginny scooped up the small ferret in her arms and carried him down to the Common Room.

And there was Weasel Boy. 

He spotted Draco, snarled, and threw the wand in his face.


	7. Chapter 7: Longfoys and Malbottoms

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN:  
I would like to remind the general public that I AM NOT A RON-HATER!  
I would also like to renew my disclaimer without comment.  
Hello from your beta! DISCLAIMER RENEWED!  
I would like to thank my unofficial beta Sonya and my assistant beta Leigh, neither of whom have an ff account but really need to get them.  
Hey again. This is Sonya. She's wrong about me needing an account. My fics are bad.  
Yeah. Same here. That's why we're betas. Leigh  
(They're insane, I'm telling you. Moving on.)  
LASTLY, I would like to thank my fans.  
(Hehe. ANs are like getting an Oscar.)  
Okay here's the true stuff you needa know about this chapter:  
It's pretty short. But it's the last short one. I promise you.  
It's a slight cliffy.  
The serious part of the plot starts now.  
If you notice a difference of my style of plots...don't worry about it. I'm experimenting. Lol. It'll end up better. I think.

**Chapter Seven  
Longfoys and Malbottoms  
**  
Ginny scooped up the small ferret in her arms and carried him down to the Common Room.

And there was Weasel Boy.

He spotted Draco, snarled, and threw the wand in his face.

"Ron, what the--" began Ginny, startled and still clutching Draco in her arms.

"He's not who you think he is!" sputtered Weasel Boy.

Draco quivered. How did this obviously unintelligent weasel figure out his secret?

Ginny looked confused, then hardened. "Ronald Bilius, if you don't get out of my way right now, I'll--"

"What, you going to tell Mum? Why should I care, Ginny, everyone's already gone and snitched on me for everything I've done in the past 24 hours. And besides, after I prove it to you that your little pet's not a ferret after all, it's HIM you're gonna want to be telling on."

Ginny shifted the animal to her shoulder and put her hands on her hips while Draco tried to balance precariously. "Oh? Then who is he?"

"Haven't you wondered where Neville's been lately?" sniffed Ron.

Draco was truly insulted. Mistake him for Longbottom...It was like mistaking a ferret for, well, a bunny-hamster.

Ginny laughed. "You honestly think that my ferret is Neville Longbottom?"

"What else could he be?"

"Hm, oh, I don't know, perhaps JUST A NORMAL FERRET?" screamed Ginny. She was aggravated.

"I refuse to believe he's a normal ferret!" spat Ron. "Look at those eyes! They're human eyes!"

"Ron, why don't you just shut up?" yelled his sister, her eyes flashing with anger. "You're always instigating! Whether it's me, or Hermione, or Harry, or even poor Luna who's practically begging at your feet for you to at least _look_ at her! Why don't you just go away and leave all of us alone?"

"Maybe I will! I won't have to put up with you lot anymore! I was just trying to _warn_ you, Ginny, so you wouldn't get hurt, but fine! I don't need to stick around here anymore!" Ron hollered. He stalked away, furious, while Ginny merely slid down to the floor with one leg folded under the other, and cried.

When Draco scampered away, he didn't leave for the outside. No, this time around he was heading straight for the Common Room.

This time, he charged past the good-looking Ravenclaw sixth year when she cooed at his adorability.

This time, he avoided Mrs. Norris at all costs.

This time, he was going to get Hermione and Harry to help, no matter what he'd need to do.

So he was very relieved to see the two of them sitting on a small couch by the fire, deep in discussion. Fat tears welled up in Hermione's eyes and rolled down onto Harry's hand. Draco jumped right up in Hermione's lap and made as many squeaking noises as he could. The pair looked down at him in confusion and fear.

"What the bloody hell?" queried Harry.

"Cocoa, Cocoa! What's wrong?" Hermione scooped him up and stroked him. He promptly bit her on the finger, and then ran away. Of course, the predictably heroic couple strolled after him, playing the victorious saviors and all of that.

He led them to Ginny lying in the hallway, still sobbing into her hands.

"Goodness, it's Ginny!" yelped Hermione. She scrambled over to sit by her friend, placing a consoling hand on her shoulder. "Gin, what happened?"

Ginny swallowed. "My bastard of a brother...ohh, Hermione, I told him to leave!"

"Oh, Nevra..." Hermione replied soothingly. "You know that he'd never leave."

Ginny hiccupped and let out a rough sob. "B-but Hermione!" Ginny coughed. "He DID!"

Hermione's face turned white. "Harry...The note."

Harry looked distressed. "We're going. Now."

"No, not now..." begged Hermione. "Please...We'll leave tonight."

He nodded solemnly.

"Where are we going?" grimaced Ginny, Cocoa climbing onto her knee, which was pale as anything. It was left exposed by her short plaid skirt.

"Ginny...we got a note. We'll explain later. I just need to do something first." 

Hermione and Harry left, but once they got to the boys dormitory Hermione only collapsed into Harry's shoulder and cried.


	8. Chapter 8: The Bridge

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN:  
This was a really strange chapter for me to write. As most of you know, this story is pretty much a romcom. Lol. But as you've read I've been setting up for a little more than that and this is the chapter where it comes. It's more than just the ferret now. I am afraid that you will find no comedy in this chapter (although if you do, I didn't mean to write it, lol...It's happened before).  
This chapter contains really sad and painful memories for Ginny, including a darker side of herself that I haven't exposed in this fic.  
You might think I went over the top with the storyline, but it's what I had to do for this story.  
The story remains PG-13 as what's in here isn't too graphic, but it can be depressing.  
There is a lot of backstory in this chapter. Actually, the chapter pretty much IS backstory. Most of it takes place in the past.  
Before you correct me about the 'February-on' remark, I would like to remind you that this story is not fully HBP canon. This means "although some events from HBP remain unchanged they have been dramatically altered to the point where I should really say that it's not HBP canon but H/G still happened so whatever", i.e. H/G happened and Dumbledore died but nothing happened in the same way.  
I'd say that there are about four more chapters in this story...so there would be twelve chapters.  
Thanks for reading...the "adventure" returns in Chapter Nine!  
Love,  
Ships 3

**Chapter Eight  
The Bridge**

Ginny's legs trembled as she stood up, biting her lip and rubbing her eye like the insecure little girl she used to be. Although the fight between Ron and her had seemed stupid, it went a lot deeper than the ferret. Ginny and Ron had never been extremely close, but lately they had been fighting more than ever. Like the last one, it started with something as stupid as a misplaced quill or a single remark in a previous conversation and evolved into something bigger that left Ginny upset and usually crying. She didn't understand what had happened to her brother to make him so...well..._stupid._

She wallowed in tragic thought, until she halted suddenly. Cocoa was kneeling before her, his ferrety eyes glinting with the hint of a human smile. Ginny shook her head uneasily. Ron's obviously moronic suspicions shouldn't get to her now. She picked up her pet and carried on with her slow walk to the Gryffindor common room.

**Nearly A Week Later**  
Hermione shot down the stairs to the Common Room, hand in hand with Harry, flushed and angry. Her messy, wavy hair flew out behind her as she made her way by the fire. In an old, rickety chair, Ginny sat with Cocoa in her lap, a small tear falling onto his fur every now and then. 

"What time is it?" asked Harry in a low, quiet voice. She could tell he was feeling the same as she was right now: lost, reckless, and in a whirlwind of strange emotion.

"It's nearly five o'clock. Dinner will be soon," came Ginny's voice, crackly like that of someone with a hoarse throat.

Hermione bit her lip, ashamed, and looked at Harry uncertainly. Neither of them understood nearly as much as they thought they did, and truthfully, they didn't care about what they thought they should be thinking about caring about. Rightfully.

"You don't have to..." started Ginny, but her voice died like a flying kite that had lost its wind midway on the rise. She didn't move at all, just stared unblinkingly at the fire with her thumb moving in slow, steady rotations on Cocoa's head.

"Finish," urged Ginny's inner conscience. She sucked in a deep breath and continued, her voice low, cold, and utterly, painfully real. "You don't have to dance around me. I'm not stupid, you know. I'm only a few months younger than the both of you."

"Ginny, please..." pleaded Hermione, seeing the outcome of this conversation far ahead of time, "You don't understand..."

"Oh, really? Well, if I don't, then why don't you just tell me what happened yourself?" Ginny turned around the face them, Cocoa sitting, not quivering in her lap still. "What was the note? What just happened over the past few hours? Why are...?"

Hermione shushed her gently. Every blink was uneasy. Every breath was light. It was like tiptoeing when an irritable baby was sleeping, they didn't want to wake her wrath. "Ginny, we're really sorry about--"

"Tell it to my brother," she snorted. "What have you been keeping about him from me, anyway? What do you know that I don't? Why haven't I found out anything? Why is it that you two are always off somewhere while it's been a week since anyone has seen my brother?"

"Ginny, please," begged Hermione, tears glistening in her eyes. "We didn't mean to keep anything from you--we just--"

"Shut up, Hermione!" Ginny shouted, struggling against her tears. "Just...shut up and go away."

"Gin, we'll just tell you now and get it over with!" yelled Harry. "If you really want to know."

The faces and voices of all three speakers softened, but the melancholy setting and crackling fire, winking in the darkness, only sharpened.

"Oh, Ginny..." Hermione breathed, her voice almost under a whisper, "Percy's dead."

Ginny nodded solemnly. "I knew." _Give me something I haven't heard. _She bit back the ugly words, but she still felt that they were true...On the inside, she was dying for information about the status of everything.

"That's not all," continued Hermione shakily. "They did everything they could, Gin...but...he's gone. Your father's gone."

Ginny turned around and met Hermione's eyes with shock. She wanted to curl up and weep to death, until the tears choked her. It was Hermione's soft mumblings that kept her from doing so. Ginny stared at Hermione in search of something...She wasn't quite sure what.

For a few moments, they sat amid Hermione's uncontrollable, yet quiet crying, and Ginny's stiff sniffling. It took Ginny a minute, actually, to start crying, and after she started, it took her five to start thinking. She was still searching...but for _what_?

"Hermione," fished Ginny, "You said something about a note before. ...What note?"

Hermione bit her lip and bowed her head. "I can't tell you, Gin. I can't..." Hermione's eyes welled up in the darkness, her hand clutching Harry's forcefully. Ginny's eyes scanned the two of them. Now it was getting desperate. They were hiding something. Something truly awful had happened and they were trying to make sense of it without letting anyone in. Knowing Harry's hero complex, he probably wanted to carry the burden all by himself on his own shoulders. Knowing Harry, Hermione only knew because she was the one who found the information in the first place. Unless...something else had happened? Ginny shook her head. No. It had to be more than just a minor threat--oh, I've kidnapped a student, come find me. No, it had to actually be somewhat serious, and that's why Hermione knew. And it was most likely precisely the reason why they would keep it from Ginny.

Ginny felt like she was being suffocated. This was something she'd swore to herself she'd never think about. There was a great chasm in her mind where all of the unpleasant thoughts went, and she had desperately tried to stop the bridge that crossed one side of her mind to the other from being built. But the bridge was finally completed, and it felt as thought something else were pushing her onto the unsafe side. And there lie the painful memories of Harry and Ginny's relationship. There lie the painful memories of watching her close friend and confidante die. There lie the memories of killing his chances of living herself.

Ginny wanted to run away, both physically and mentally, but her legs didn't respond to her brain's orders and her brain wasn't letting itself tell itself to go. To flee and never come back to this place. But now it was there, and Ginny was being thrust over it.

Over the end of last school year...spanning from February on, she'd say...Harry and Ginny had begun to date. They had been, pretty much, the Golden Couple of Hogwarts. Everything was wonderful...except that something big was missing and making Ginny feel hollow. She didn't tell anyone. Not Luna, not Hermione...only Blaise. He was a Slytherin, but he had been nice to her. He was good-looking, too. He was tall and built, if a little on the stocky side, with tanned skin--almost an olive shade, light brown hair, and eyes that seemed to be a violet color. He had become Draco Malfoy's first mate, and his handsome but darker features contrasted with Malfoy's fragile, pale ones. They made a good team, Draco with his loud attractiveness and smart-ass drawl and Blaise with his quiet smarts and timid ways. Ginny admitted it only to herself: she had liked Draco for years...Still, Blaise was very cute and Ginny wanted to be friends with him. 

Meanwhile, Harry's life and his relationships were falling apart. Ron and Hermione kept flipping between either not being on speaking terms or snogging all over the place. Harry didn't know which was worse. They were an annoying couple romantically--the sickening type that was sweet, but after awhile made you want to beat the two of them over the head and tape their mouths shut--and when they weren't romantic they would not give the other a glance--except when they thought that the other wasn't looking, of course.

Either way, their turbulent relationship kept Harry from being able to be close to either of them. He kept his emotions bottled inside and the lack of Hermione's help and guidance in his mission to destroy Voldemort. (He had, in fact, been able to kill Voldemort or banish him or something with Hermione's help at the end of the summer, but neither of them had told a soul how they'd done it.) Still, Harry told Hermione everything--_everything_. There was basically nothing in his life she didn't know about. Meanwhile, he never told Ginny anything. He had always been trying to protect her, and she had always been wanting something else. There was something Ginny and Hermione had in common, and it was that though Harry tried to protect them, to lock them away in thought far away from the twisted ones of the Dark Lord he had to see, the girls would both rather be unsafe and by Harry's side to the very end. But there was a difference, and it was the difference that separated Ginny and Harry and bound Harry and Hermione together. Ginny was a strong, smart, resourceful girl for normal circumstances, but she wasn't nearly strong enough to hold Harry up during these difficult times. Hermione had been with him the whole time, experiencing it all, and so she was. Ginny knew this, but she was too upset to bring it up with him.

The most hurtful part was his perception of her. Oh yes, Ginny and Harry loved each other. But it was a sibling-like love, one that caused them to fail in any other relationship...obviously. Some people said that Ginny would never get over believing in Harry as the sort of superstar boy she had grown up hearing about. Some people predicted that this would be their downfall. And maybe she would never get over it. But it wasn't her screwed-up view, it was his. He would always, always see her as the little girl he saved from the Chamber of Secrets, the one he needed to protect at all costs. The one who was part of his family...the Weasleys.

And that was why he never told her a word.

At least, about anything that mattered.

A thousand times, Ginny had cried on Blaise's shoulder, searching in her heart and others' for an answer. A thousand times, she had expressed to Blaise her innermost thoughts. And a thousand times, he had comforted her and made her smile and laugh.

Harry was always trying to push away others. He knew that being with him made other people targets. But Ginny hadn't realized that since she was number 2 on Voldemort's hit list, that it worked that way for her too.

She got the note in July. It was a bright, sunny day, a week after Fleur and Bill's wedding and a few days after Harry and Hermione had disappeared mysteriously on their venture. Ginny's life was mildly shadowed with worries of the two, but all in all she felt good for once in her existence. The note was scrawled on a piece of old parchment. _Oh, Blaise, that poor boy. No clue what he's gotten himself into. _That was all it had said. Ginny felt shivers going up and down her spine, and she suspected it wasn't because she was wearing a tank top.

She went to bed a little bit after dinner, tired and dreary. It was the middle of the night when she opened her eyes to stare at a Death Eater. She couldn't see who it was. "Give me the Horcrux and Blaise lives...Refuse and he dies."

Ginny was jumping. What Horcrux? She wracked her brain and remembered a conversation between Harry and Hermione she'd overheard the night of Fleur and Bill's wedding. The pair of them were trying to get comfortable after being in dress clothes all day and Ginny was about to bring refreshments, but after hearing his words, she had scampered away, frightened. "Hermione, I don't know what I'll do...Ginny's a Horcrux."

Hermione had cried, and Harry seemed deeply distressed.

Well, the Death Eater wanted Ginny then, right? Ginny swallowed.

She didn't know why she did it, but something possessed her to shake her head.

"Won't...give...Horcrux," she squeaked.

The Death Eater Disapparated, leaving Ginny to shudder in her bed for the entire night. At 5:00 AM, something willed her to sleep...A soft, shushing noise that flooded her ears. She woke up two hours later to see Blaise lying on her desk. 

Dead.

Ginny had remembered the funeral only in waving, dizzying chunks that floated in and out of her brain with the lilt of the sea. She had her hair up, and she wore black entirely. Her eyes were downcast the whole time as she felt like throwing up. Or possibly dying. Blaise was dead...not only dead, but murdered...and it was her fault. _She_ had practically murdered Blaise.

Ginny remembered staring down at her hands, afraid of finding blood. So ensued flashbacks of her first year at Hogwarts, an equally traumatic time. Ginny would have nightmares about Tom Riddle and wake up in her bed shrieking and drenched in sweat. Fleur hardly got any sleep, for after the incident she agreed to share the room with her, and comfort her in the middle of the night as she screamed and screamed.

Harry and Hermione came back mid-August. They didn't talk about anything for a long while. Their days consisted of dressing, eating, sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating, dressing, sleeping. It was the last week of August when they awoke from their "slumber".

The three of them--Harry, Hermione, and Ginny--took off the first two weeks of school. They were traumatized and only beginning to heal. Harry learned that he no longer needed to worry about Voldemort--though he still kept his guard up--and Hermione eased back to her normal personality (besides the fact that whenever she and Harry were in a room together, they fell silent). Ginny...she learned to heal. She sealed up the gaping hole in her soul as best as she could. And she kept far, far away from Draco Malfoy.

That had become the Golden Rule of Ginny's current life. Stay away from Draco Malfoy.

For, previously, wherever there was Draco there was Blaise.

And now, wherever there was Draco...there was still Blaise. His memories were lurking around the castle, haunting two young students, one a Slytherin boy, one a Gryffindor girl.

Both still incredibly upset, and both hiding it incredibly well.


	9. Chapter 9: Chapter Nine

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN:  
Welcome to Chapter Nine! This is the chapter where...well, you'll see P :blows raspberry and is feeling evil: ;)  
Yes, the chapter is called 'Chapter Nine' (as opposed to being called 'Arrivals and Departures' or 'Crossing The Line' or something like that. Muffin next chapter to whoever remembers what fic those two titles are from...hint, it's considered one of the best Harry Potter romance fics of all time). You'll see why it was named that later -

**Chapter Nine  
Chapter Nine**

_Continuing From:_**  
**_That had become the Golden Rule of Ginny's current life. Stay away from Draco Malfoy._

For, previously, wherever there was Draco there was Blaise.

And now, wherever there was Draco...there was still Blaise. His memories were lurking around the castle, haunting two young students, one a Slytherin boy, one a Gryffindor girl.

Both still incredibly upset, and both hiding it incredibly well.

Ginny beat the pillow in a bout of frustration. Sleep was slinking away from her with every bad thought she cast into her own head. She sighed, realizing that sleep could only be chased away, not lured back, and got up to get a glass of water.

Ginny slipped away to the Common Room, and for the first time in her life she felt exposed in her pajamas (consisting of a camisole and shorts). More, she felt like she was being watched. Yes, that was the feeling.

She stuck her tongue out into the darkness, miffed at the nerve of whatever evil being was trying to kill someone today, and also to scare them into thinking what she herself doubted: that she could handle them. Should they come after her.

Whoever it was, they didn't chase her back upstairs as she settled into bed with a candle, a book, and her beverage. She flipped to the chapter she had left off on and began to read, inching down the page. Unlike Hermione, Ginny wasn't a fast reader, and her brain was less sponge-like than her friend's. It took Ginny a slow pace to absorb and take in what she was reading. Ginny had always marveled at Hermione's speed. She could flip through pages and pages and finish a thick book within less than a day, and still remember what she read about.

Ginny shook her head, as if to shake off stupid, clingy thoughts. She continued to amble her way through Chapter Nine, a particularly good one out of the entire novel so far. Ginny sighed. Chapter Nine was nearly the end of the book, one she had been reading for a long time, and she was dying to reach the end soon enough. Not because she didn't like the book--no, she loved it!--it was just that the suspense was killing her.

Ginny heard creaks as the floor in the dormitory next door shifted with the weight of someone. Tiptoe footsteps followed. Ginny poked her head out of the door. Hermione was creeping out of her room, dressed in jeans and a slim gray hoodie.

"Bit chilly outside, good thing you're wearing a sweatshirt," Ginny called out, keeping her voice low.

Hermione did a rapid double-take and her hand flew to her heart. "Ginny!" she breathed, frightened. "What...why...How?"

"Just where do you think you're going, missy?" Ginny laughed. She was talking like...hrm...Ginny couldn't quite place it, but she was reminding herself of someone else.

"I was just going to Harry's dorm--" Ginny suppressed desparate laughter, and Hermione made one of those 'oh, shut up' noises as she grinned--"Honestly! Stop it," Hermione smiled. "I was going to meet him by the boys dormitories because we're going to Hogsmeade." _Great job, Hermione. Let it slip._

"Oh? Isn't it a little late for a date? Or are you going on a nice moonlit stroll?"

Hermione made a little noise in her throat and tried to get away. She needed to meet Harry...Finally, she decided to just go along with Ginny. "Okay, fine. We're going on a date. Three Broomsticks just re-opened as a 24-hour restaurant, did you hear? I hear Rosmerta hired a new assistant Head Waitress or something like that..."

Ginny's eyebrow raised, she continued prodding. "Why d'you suddenly decide to start being rebellious now? I thought even Head Boy and Girl weren't allowed to leave school grounds after curfew."

"Ginny, none of this is your concern. Get back to bed or I can--and will--report you for being out of your dorm."

"But I'm in my dorm," Ginny pointed out, for her feet were still placed in the room.

"Then I'll drag you out and report you!" Hermione threatened angrily, her teeth gritted.

Ginny stalked back into her bedroom as Hermione stalked down the hall. The redhead yanked a black sweatshirt over her pajamas and continued quietly.

_Not so fast,_ thought a groggy ferret, awoken from the harsh whispering between the girls. He jumped onto his feet and padded quietly after her, his pale fur glowing faintly in the plunging darkness of the night.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Hermione slipped into the seventh year boys' dormitory without any trouble. There lay Seamus, Dean and Neville in their beds, Ron's empty as a cracked eggshell. Hermione kept walking until she reached the portrait of a lion and a lioness curled up before a fire. She whipped out her wand and drew an 'H' over the painting. It became a revolving door, which she entered, revealing the Head Boy's room.

There he was, sleeping soundly under the covers of his four-poster. His hair was messy as anything and sticking out in all sorts of directions, and he was wearing a dark green T-shirt that would've brought out his eyes so nicely if they were open. Hermione crept over to him and kissed him quietly to wake him up. He did.

"...Hi," he started sleepily.

"Hi," replied Hermione, laughing just a little bit. He smiled.

"I'm really tired..." He made a show of stretching.

"Well, start being awake because we can't have you waltzing around half-asleep and not alert at all."

Harry blinked into the darkness. "Sit. I didn't get much sleep."

Hermione sighed, the smile falling off her face like a dropped piece of paper. "I didn't, either." She sat on his bed with her back against the footboard, legs folded in half with her arms hugging them. "I'm just so worried. What if we're completely wrong and Ron is really somewhere else, and this is all a trap, and what if something happens and--"

"Hush." He leaned and pressed a finger to her lips. "I don't think this is a trap--if so, it's not very well planned. No, I think that this is more of a nasty surprise that Voldemort has got up his sleeve."

"Do you really think it's Voldemort?" asked Hermione doubtfully. "I mean, didn't we banish him?" Her arms shivered with the thought.

Harry smiled in an odd way. It was a kind, strange smile. "Yeah, we did. But evil like him always sticks around. It really...it really..."

Hermione shuddered again. "It's just...We did so much to get rid of him, we spent so much time and lives killing him, and to think that he's back...To think..." Hermione sucked in her breath. "It's like nothing was even worth it."

"Oh, but it was easy," grinned Harry, and this time his expression was a little more...real? Hermione couldn't find the words. "Right? I wouldn't mind banishing him again."

"Oh, I would," scoffed Hermione, but she was smiling too.

Harry grabbed her and kissed her, their lips brushing against each other tenderly and eventually pressing together with all of their might. They wanted nothing more than to be with each other without endangering the lives of those around them, but it was the one thing they couldn't get.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
Ginny had been moving quickly down the hallway when she noticed Cocoa. She gasped and scooped him up. He really was quite smart to have followed her. Tucking him under her arm with the book she'd been reading, she continued down the corridor.

She must've lost Hermione in the darkness, because she was nowhere to be seen. Ginny walked quickly until she finally just found the Common Room and sat by the fire, reading her book. She was deep in the most suspenseful piece of the chapter when all of the sudden, a hand was thrown over her mouth, and an arm snapped around her waist and yanked her to the floor.

She felt something bind her hands together and make her legs fold. She realized that someone was tying her body to a broom--and they were taking off!

"Who the hell are you?" she screamed, but it was so black she couldn't see.

Her kidnapper flew the broom straight through the window of Gryffindor Common Room, shattering the ancient glass into a million pieces and soaring off into the night. The metal rod that held up the curtains flung down and smacked Ginny in the head. She felt herself going out like a candle as the broom sped away.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
"Hermione."

"Mmmph."

"Hermione.

"Mmmm!'

"Fine, I won't make you get up. I just wanted to let you know that I went down to the Common Room and no one was there, and then I looked at the window and I saw it was broken. So when I went downstairs, I saw everyone in the school all huddled in the Great Hall and--"

"Everyone?" Hermione sat up from her spot on the couch, perking up. She turned her head and saw that Harry wasn't sleeping on the bed, where she'd left him, but that he was standing up, fully dressed. "What happened?"

"I don't know, but I think as Head Boy and Girl we should sort of get downstairs."

"Oh, all right, all right..." Hermione yawned and followed Harry back downstairs. McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of them.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're here!" she exclaimed.

"Professor..." started Harry. "What's happened?"

"I am afraid that...a student has been kidnapped!"


	10. Chapter 10: Life's Not Fair

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN:  
No one has won the muffin yet. But whoever guesses what movie Gin's kidnapper quotes from at the end of this chapter wins another muffin. (This one has sprinkles. The Chapter-Nine one has got...umm...frosting D) Hint: It's a kid's movie. Hint 2: He is quoting the bad guy.  
Hey! This fic is in double-digit chapters now!  
Hooray...lol.  
Clarification of events from last chapter: I didn't intend to word it so that it seemed like H/Hr ahem 'did it' but if you feel it would better the story if they did, you are free to imagine that D I left it open on purpose because my one friend was like "OMG they shouldn't do it" and my other said "OMG they should totally do it!" and my third friend was all "What? they did it?"  
So, it's your choice...If you want them to have done it, they did. If you want them to have not, they haven't. Everyone wins D  
Another note...I have finished the entire fic already and am submitting the end with a few hour intervals between chapters. I am posting this one at 10:45. Chapter 11 will be sometime late tomorrow morning. The last chapter will be out by the afternoon...sob  
Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Chapter Ten  
Life's Not Fair**

_"Oh, all right, all right..." Hermione yawned and followed Harry back downstairs. McGonagall breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of them._

"Oh, thank goodness, you're here!" she exclaimed.

"Professor..." started Harry. "What's happened?"

"I am afraid that...a student has been kidnapped!"

Harry swallowed.

"Who?" he asked urgently.

"Oh, Potter..." began McGonagall. "Ginny Weasley. The poor dear must've gone down to the Common Room in the dead of night for whatever reason and was snatched away by someone who broke through the window. As you've seen."

"Damn her," muttered Harry. "Damn her, damn her, damn her..."

"Why can't she listen to me just for once?" cried Hermione with anguish. "I said not to follow me!"

Harry took Hermione's arm and led her away. "Hermione," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, "We are leaving tonight. There's no other choice. He'll be snatching you next. Get the note."

"Fine. But how do you know it's him?" asked Hermione, the tone of her voice wavering between irked and, well, pissed off.

"Oh, I don't!" Harry admitted. "I'm just...assuming."

Hermione sighed with exasperation--or was it sad frustration? "I thought you said last night that it wasn't him."

"I--oh, nevermind. No, I don't think it's Voldemort himself, but I am inclined to believe it's the same group of followers."

Hermione let out a short, humorless laugh that reminded Harry of Sirius. It was the bitterness that did it. "Who's left?" she asked. "We killed them all of."

Harry smirked. "Shh," he teased. "It was a good thing, but we don't want to send Hogwarts into a frenzy thinking that the people running them are cold-blooded murderers."

"The only cold-blooded murderers in this mess are the ones we finished off," Hermione reminded him.

"They don't know that." He nodded his head in the direction of the general public.

Hermione just smiled and walked over to Luna Lovegood. The blonde girl was frowning, her eyes cast off in a faraway world.

"Hi Luna," Hermione said.

"Oh, hello Hermione..." Luna sang dreamily.

Harry watched them for a few lingering moments, then shook his head and went back upstairs.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
Ginny woke up and tried not to get sick from dizziness. There was a muscular male character flying the broom she was strapped to. She could see faintly in the light that he had Cocoa in his backpack.

"So," she cried, testing out her voice, "What's up?"

"You might want to shut up in case I drop you or something," he said harshly. His voice was muffled. Then he softened. "Not to be rude or anything, miss, but I don't think it would be too great if you distracted me and I dropped you. Pretty high up here."

Ginny struggled to nod, but her neck was killing her. "Deal."

"Good. My name's Robin," he told her.

"Is your last name 'Andbatman'?" she asked, then snickered at her own corny little joke.

"Very funny. But whatever floats your boat," Robin replied.

Ginny pilfered a moment of cheeriness and saved it in her mental bank for later. She might need it in case she never got through this.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
"Hermione," stated Harry, his voice with no emotion.

"Yes?" she squeaked back.

"Please stop whimpering."

"I'm not whimpering!" she squealed as they crawled through the dusty cellars of Candida Maine, a large mansion. Nobody had ever bothered to check behind the Shrieking Shack. Oh, no. Of course, it was Harry Potter's job, and apparently, Hermione's too.

Hermione had shivered and shook, clutching Harry's hand nervously as they ascended stairs, creeped along crawlspaces, and entered an odd, spooky basement filled with spiders who only shrieked with laughter at anything Harry and Hermione did. Now, Hermione wasn't usually too scared of things. Ghosts didn't faze her, vampires didn't interrupt her daydreams or anything like that. Her worst Boggart ever was failing a class. But something about this place was really, really creeping her out.

They climbed out of the cellar and walked towards the kitchen, when suddenly Hermione screamed and fell down--a tunnel?

Harry tried to grab her, but he lost his balance and fell down with her.

Voice and touch were all they had to lead them down the tunnel. They held the other's hand but kept one free to brush along the wall as they dropped. Finally, they landed with a soft flump, Hermione's back on Harry's front.

"Oof." Harry lifted her gently, and she sat down with her legs crossed.

"I'm tired," she yawned.

"How long d'you think we were dropping for?" Harry asked curiously. It had been a long fall, but somehow the landing was soft.

"I don't know. A minute or two?" Hermione rubbed her eye sleepily. She was too drained to think. Within moments, she was asleep on the floor lying next to Harry, who had nothing to do but sleep and be plagued with worry and guilt.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
"You're not being very fair, you know," Ginny told him matter-of-factly. They had landed in a cavern underground, and the man had set her in a chair. As a twisted joke, he pulled up a stool from a child's playset and placed Cocoa on it.

"Life's not fair," he smirked. "For I shall never be king, and you...you shall never see the light of another day." Ginny looked like she was about to burn his hair off with her eyes, so he added quickly, "Just kidding. Of course you will. We don't permanently imprison the cute ones."

Ginny sighed and slumped in her chair. "Couldn't you at least take this spell of me so I could maybe...stretch my legs a bit? If I'm so cute, you should be able to maybe...pull some strings for me?"

"Sorry, luv." He squeezed her calf. "It's set on a matter of minutes. Nothing I can do until the clock strikes one."

"Don't call me luv!" she spat, smiling. "Unless I know you...?"

"Oh, you aren't going to wriggle this one out of me. Nope. Not telling."

"Can I guess?"

"You're free to guess if you want, luv, but I won't say a word."

"Mmkay. Hmm...Neville?"

The man stayed silent.

"Ron?"

Silence.

"Of course you're not Ron. That would be...odd. Are you...umm...Oh, I've got it. You're Draco Malfoy!" she guessed enthusiastically.

The man shook his head, but Ginny could see a smile lurking under the shadows.

Her mind tumbled over the words he'd said, his mannerisms...right down to his shy, sweet smile.

Ginny's face turned white as ice. She opened her mouth, but only a shocked whisper came out. "Blaise?"

The man turned and exposed his face to the light. Ginny could only gasp and try to keep from blacking out.


	11. Chapter 11: The Boy The Girl&the Ferret

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN: **IMPORTANT BULLETIN TO ALL READERS:  
**I have a few issues to pick with you!  
-NONE of you has won either muffin yet! I'm very shocked ;) I expected more from you lot. The answer to Muffin 1 is **PARADIGM OF UNCERTAINTY** by Lori, which is posted on Schnoogle...If no one wins Muffin 2 by the time 12 is posted this weekend (Yes, this fic is over THIS WEEKEND) then I will eat that one too. No, you don't get a muffin for guessing what movie Ginny's kidnapper quotes from in this one...Too easy! lol.

-I also feel I must explain to you about Super-Prep. See, I promised my friend I would put her in one of my fics. When I rammed myself head-first into a plothole in this chapter, I decided to slip in Super-Prep, Super-Punk, and Billy-Goat in not only for my friends' sake, but also for the sake of the story and to provide comic relief after a string of chapters devoid of any humor whatsoever.  
So if you think it's a little outrageous and over-the-top, it was meant to be. And it was so fun to write, you just may see her again. Especially because takes deep breath and seals mouth before she spoils anything else  
Yes, all three of my superheroes are based off actual people. Super-Prep and Billy-Goat go to my school. Super-Punk does not. You don't get a muffin if you figure out who Super-Punk is even though I will give you a congrats. Yes, he is someone you know. Not personally, but you've heard of him.  
And no, Super-Prep is not THAT preppy and annoying and I assure you that Billy-Goat's mum isn't a goat.

-I have also been told that Karissa's outfit is 'ridiculous'. Lol, it was meant to be. Karissa, oh, hrm, she's an interesting character. You'll find out more about her when takes another deep breath and reseals mouth again

-Blaise saying 'luv' a lot...Yeah, that's for a reason too: my own personal entertainment. I like that word, and it sort of fits with how his character's acting at this moment in time, so...There you go.

Aside from that...  
-I am very sad. This is my second-to-last chapter in this story and I haven't decided whether or not to do an epilogue. (Leaning towards a no on that one...but there's good news.)  
I am thinking about maybe a SEQUEL?  
Not about the whole ferret plotline but more of a continuation of the story. Kind of like, more in this little 'universe'. If you know what I mean. You'll understand why this needs a sequel by the end of this fic.  
Here's just a general bulletin for all of my fics:  
I won't be continuing Hey Mickey! just yet. I need to clean it up more. (I've got plenty of it written already, though.)  
Through the Cover...like the above, many of it is written but it needs cleaning. So no posts for awhile on that one either.  
Untitled MBF sequel...I won't be starting it just yet. I have to plow through my other ideas first.  
What you CAN expect from me in the very near future is a few fluffy and/or angsty one shots. I like both genres. So look out for those.  
When I start developing the plot for the sequel to this fic...I will let you all know. I've already got a chapter for it.  
For now, here's chapter eleven. Enjoy it...it's your second-to-last.  
runs off to sob

**Chapter Eleven  
The Boy, The Girl, and the Ferret**

_"Of course you're not Ron. That would be...odd. Are you...umm...Oh, I've got it. You're Draco Malfoy!" she guessed enthusiastically._

The man shook his head, but Ginny could see a smile lurking under the shadows.

Her mind tumbled over the words he'd said, his mannerisms...right down to his shy, sweet smile.

Ginny's face turned white as ice. She opened her mouth, but only a shocked whisper came out. "Blaise?"

The man turned and exposed his face to the light. Ginny could only gasp and try to keep from blacking out.

"See, that's sort of the reason I didn't admit it when you asked," Blaise explained.

Ginny didn't know whether to scream and hit him or scream and hug him. So instead, she just screamed.

"AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD?"

"I am dead...And then again, I am not. I am no longer Gandalf the Grey...I am Gandalf the White!"

Ginny rolled her eyes again. Blaise had always had a strange fetish for Muggle movies. "Why are you still here? Blaise...I _saw_ your body."

"Ginny, touch me."

"_What?_"

"Not like _that_, you freak. Just touch me."

Ginny reached out a skeptical arm. It plunged into his chest, but floated back out. She was speechless. "...Whoa."

"Whoa is right."

Ginny squinted. "What are you?"

"I'm not a ghost...I'm me. But trust me, Ginny, I've literally been sent through hell and back to fulfill my mission and I intend to do so."

"What is your mis--"

"Shh! I can't tell you, of course...Then I would have to abort the mission and not only would it keep me in limbo between afterlives but it would change your future entirely, luv."

"So...the rest of my life is in the hands of a dead freak who happens to be my long-deceased best friend?"

Blaise nodded. "Precisely."  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
"Harry, I swear to God...Sometimes I honestly want to know what goes on in that brain. Did you bring your wand?"

Harry blinked innocently. "Of course!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"I...er...didn't bring the note."

Hermione sighed and took the wand. "Accio Note!"

A small, tattered piece of parchment flew into her hand. Harry smiled.

"Anyway, why are we still standing here?"

"My God, 'Mione, did you hit your head on the way down?"

Hermione giggled.

"What's so funny?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"You called me 'Mione."

"Er...what?"

"You called me 'Mione'. As in, Hermione without the 'her'."

"And why is that humorous at all?" asked Harry curiously.

"Shush and comb your hair. You look like hell. Didn't you get any sleep at all?"

"Sorry, Mum. Will do, Mum."

Hermione hit him. "Shut up!"

He smirked and turned his back to her, laughing into the blindness of the tunnel.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

(AN: I'm killing you with this note business, aren't I? Hahaha...evil laughter)

Ginny stared at the ripped note in her hands, fingering the roughness. The words were in a slinky kelly green ink, the handwriting tall and girlishly sprawling. Her mouths formed the words, the whisper dying on her lips. "That poor boy..."

Ginny turned to face him. "Blaise...You mentioned a...limbo of afterlives. What did that mean?"

Blaise exhaled and stared at her with his shocking violet eyes. "Ginny, you know...Heaven and hell."

Ginny walked up to him. "What is there? Is there really a heaven and a--"

"No. Well, yes. In a manner of means."

"What do you mean?"

Blaise sighed. "It's hard to explain, I guess. There's the veil...And we fall into it. It's a sort of...meadow-like place. The dead lie there, waiting...If they have trouble with not being near their loved ones. So they sit there in that meadow, because they know that just beyond the grass's edge, there is the veil, fluttering in the soft wind silently. And just beyond that veil, there is life...Life as they knew it. Life as they remember it. Beyond there are the people they love. And they lie in that meadow because they feel better knowing that they are closed to their loved ones."

"What is the veil?"

"The passageway, luv. The threshold between life and death...for wizards, anyway. I'm sure there are a few. Ours belongs to the magical folk of England, maybe Scotland too. The only reason no one knows what it is is because no one who ever goes in ever comes out. Except me, of course. And one other boy."

"Who?"

Blaise fell silent. "I've said too much."

Ginny pouted. "Oh, right. Leave me hanging."

"I'm tired."

"Then sleep."

"I will."

"Okay."

There was silence for a moment before Ginny asked another question.

"Blaise...Did you see...Did you see...Was Sirius Black in that meadow?"

Blaise looked at her. "Sirius Black? Yeah, he was there. They said he'd been stuck for almost two years now. He's in limbo like I'll be if you don't shush and let me sleep."

Ginny nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

So she shush and let him sleep.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
"Hermione...Can I see the note?"

She nodded and handed it to Harry who read its haunting words over and over again.

"He runs because he knows what you are. He runs because he knows you're killing him. But even when he runs, he dies."

He felt himself shuddering. Did Ron really know what Harry was? His great secret that had lurked inside him ever since he killed Voldemort. The secret he learned...the secret he would never tell. And why did Ron die? 'Even when he runs'? And what did that mean, anyway?

"Hermione, what did the other note say?" asked Harry.

Hermione gave a little laugh. "Barely anything. Here you go."

The other note was much shorter. "This one's evil. Woven." the kelly green writing wrote.

Harry had pondered it long and hard, but he made no connection. "What does it mean, Hermione? What do you think it means?"

Hermione sighed. "Look, Harry, I don't know. But I do know that you are acting...strangely like me...and it's scary, so please stop and act like your own self and...Just...Stop worrying!"

"Stop _worrying_? Hermione, Ron's life is on the line here! Ginny's as well! And we still don't know who's behind it."

"Harry, please. Just...Stop a moment and we'll think of the best way to get to Ron."

"Oh, but you don't need that," came a deep woman's voice. Out of the shadows stepped a short, petite woman with sleek black hair polished back into a ponytail and a dark purple and black...bathing suit. She was also wearing ridiculous lime green boots and, well, nothing more than that besides a wicked smile.

"I'll bring you right to him."

She threw her hand out and the three of them reappeared in a dungeon.

"Who are you?" screamed Hermione.

"My name is Karissa. Give me a nickname and I'll get someone to chop your head off."

"Nice," commented Harry. "But no thanks."

He grabbed his wand from his back pocket, but her eyes turned an eerie ice blue and froze his hand.

"That was an extremely lame attempt to impress, Karissa," Harry told her coolly, concentrating his own eyes on his icy hand. It unfroze immediately.

"Agreed," Hermione nodded. Harry and Hermione moved forward, wands at the ready.

Karissa pouted. "Now why are you trying to hurt me? I haven't even done anything yet."

"You have Ron," Harry pointed out.

"You have no proof of that," came Karissa's voice from her full lips. She moved them slowly when she talked.

"She's right, Harry," Hermione agreed, pausing.

"Oh, she's got him, all right," Harry grinned, his eyes gleaming almost...wickedly.

"And how do you know that?" asked Hermione and Karissa in the exact same tone.

"Because her eyes are flickering kelly green and that's what happens when she lies." Harry continued to grin. "I know you too well, Karissa."

"Hold on here! Time out!" Hermione turned to Harry and whispered, "How the hell do you know her?"

"I--" Harry started, but Hermione was blown back into the wall before he could finish.

"There are no time outs in the real world, sweetheart," Karissa giggled.

Harry scowled at her and threw a few spells at her. She was knocked back into the wall by a force coming at her stomach. She groaned.

"That didn't hurt," she lied.

"I'm sure it didn't."

Harry turned around and summoned Hermione up. Instantly she began to wave her wand at Karissa, who deflected many of the spells and only was lightly bruised by some.

"Sorry, sweetie," she said to Hermione. "It won't work for you. You can't do a thing."

"Shut up, Karissa," Harry muttered, trying to affect her. Instead, she froze him again and shocked him. Literally.

Karissa clutched him with her long, sharp black nails, laughing. "Pathetic," she breathed down his ear, her lips moving down his neck. "You're really cute, but you're quite pathetic." She turned her lips toward his and tried to slink her way into his mouth while he was still frozen from the shock.

Hermione felt her blood bubbling under her skin. She didn't need a wand for this one. Hey, if she could do it to Malfoy she could definetly do it to Little Miss Karissa.

She threw her arm forward from the shoulder with a force never seen by humans before and her fist collided with Karissa's smooth, pale cheek. She was blown into the wall, tears leaking out from the pain and making her mascara run.

Hermione and Harry both whipped out their wands and pointed them at her in complete--and I mean creepily flawless--unison.

"If your lips ever brush against his skin, I swear on the sake of the entire universe and to every God that ever existed that I will blow your slutty little arse right off the face of the earth and out of the Milky Way, too," Hermione spat, her wand quivering with force.

"You little bitch!" Karissa leapt up from her spot and tried to throw herself at Hermione, but Harry and Hermione suddenly found themselves throwing spells they'd never even heard of before just as Blaise burst through the window with Ginny and Cocoa on his broom. Ginny instantly threw the Bat Bogey hex at the mysterious girl while Blaise grabbed Cocoa and flung himself out of the way.

By the time Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were through with Karissa, strange orange fungi was growing out of her jelly legs and bats were flying around her head, spitting boogers at her face. "Oh, hahaha. Harry, darling, care to help?"

"I told you to shut up," he glared.

"No problem. You haven't got me, you know. The redhead kid's got a strong Bogey Hex, but there's only one person in this room who can affect me at all and his name's Harry Potter."

Hermione shrieked a spell. It bounced off Karissa, who started to laugh hysterically.

"I told you, you little witch," Karissa spat. "It doesn't work out for you. It's not made to be that way."

"Why don't you shut up, Karissa," started Harry, but Karissa's cackling cut him off.

"Love hurts, hon," she said to Hermione, then, maybe just for fun, kissed Harry on the lips. He tried to get away, but she locked him in place.

Hermione stepped forward, stuck out her wand promptly, and sent Karissa flying into the air. The raven-haired girl smacked down into the wall, blowing another few planks apart, her face now adorned with two long scratches: one along her jaw, the other over her left eye.

"I told you I would blow you off the face of the earth," Hermione said, her voice low and cool. She grabbed Harry's hand.

There was a sudden burst of sparkles and everyone in the room felt a tingling sensation as tons of tiny little moose confetti shot onto their heads.

"Dun dun dun dun...I'm SUPER PREP!"

A ridiculously clothed girl came into view. She was wearing a bright pink polo with the collar 'popped' and wore a lime-green moose on her shirt. She had on this little miniskirt with a ribbon tied around the waist, and chunky heeled boots with the words 'SUPER PREP! D" written across them in bright colors. There was also an orange cape slung around her shoulders, also reading SUPER PREP!

Following her were two less-preppily clad boys. One was sort of punk...not completely punk, but punkish, and the other was half-human half-goat and wearing a shirt with a moose on it, too.

Super Prep marched right up to Harry and screamed, "Need help? Never fear...For I am Super-Prep, and I am here!"

"Thank you, Dr. Seuss," muttered Super Punk sarcastically, looking as enthusiastic as a mouse being told that there was no more cheese in the world.

"And this is my sidekick, Super Punk!" cried Super Prep. "And our friend Billy Goat...the half-goat!"

"How did that happen?" asked Ginny curiously.

"My mom's a goat, what else?" asked Billy Goat. "No...Actually, it's a--"

"--long story," finished Super Punk. "Can we just get this over with so I can go back to whatever I was doing before?"

"RIGHT!" yelled Super Prep. She popped the collar on her polo and little boomerang-esque daggers flew at Karissa, pinning her to the wall. Super Prep then pressed the moose on her shirt. It flung lasers at Karissa, scorching the ends of her hair and causing her to scream.

"You stupid prep!" Karissa yelled. She pulled out her hand and screeched, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Because her wrist was pinned to the wall with the weird daggers, her aim went haywire and headed straight for Ginny...

...causing Cocoa the ferret to leap up in front of her and take the shot himself.

There was an electric reaction. The ferret didn't die immediately, instead, was wrapped in green ropes of energy that pulsed until they finally set him free on the ground.

Ginny stared in shock. There was Draco Malfoy, lying on the floor not only completely naked (as it took Ginny a few moments after Blaise threw a blanket over him to register) but also dead.

"Well," came a voice from behind the door. "I was sort of right, wasn't I?"

Ginny turned her head as tears started to fill her eyes.

It was Ron.

AN: Don't give up on me yet! Please read the last chapter, I think we have some loose ends to tie up here don't we?


	12. Chapter 12: Exit Quickly,But Not Quietly

**My Beloved Ferret  
**_by StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia_

AN:  
**Well...This is it.  
**The last chapter of my beloved story, My Beloved Ferret.  
I loved writing this, really I did!  
It was fun...The reviews I got were awesome and I love every single one of my readers and reviewers (THANK YOU!) I really want to thank you guys for never losing hope in me, even when I added in my...erm...strange humor, which as we all know HAS to reappear once in awhile.  
I want to thank Sonya and Leigh for beta-ing the first 8 chapters of this fic and Nic for beta-ing the last four...THANK YOU SO MUCH! You three are the best!  
I also would like to say that the answer to Muffin 2 is 'The Lion King' as correctly guessed by HyperSquishy and deppforever07, hehe. (Hyper even got the character right--Scar.) Hooray D  
I'm not gonna tell you who Super-Punk is, you have to guess! haha.  
I must also mention that I realized something: I know in a lot of random places in the fic or AN it just says 'D' or 'C'. This is because I used smiley faces with an equal sign that doesn't show up on Lol. So wherever it says 'D' or 'C' it's a smiley.

**Chapter Twelve  
Exit Quickly, But Not Quietly**

_Ginny stared in shock. There was Draco Malfoy, lying on the floor not only completely naked (as it took Ginny a few moments after Blaise threw a blanket over him to register) but also dead._

"Well," came a voice from behind the door. "I was sort of right, wasn't I?"

Ginny turned her head as tears started to fill her eyes.

It was Ron.  
_  
_Ginny could do nothing this time to keep herself from fainting. The lack of energy, the battles with Karissa, and the truckload of information that was being poured onto her...She was out.

Ron was standing in the doorway with Neville Longbottom and Pansy Parkinson. The three of them stared at everyone else, who could only stare at Draco, his platinum blonde hair curling at the ends and falling over the forehead of his battle-worn face. He was still and unmoving, and even though they hated Draco, Hermione couldn't help but cry.

"We didn't even _know,_" Hermione whispered. "That it was him the whole time. Nobody even noticed he was gone."

Ron nodded grimly. "I know," he agreed. "I only came to that conclusion after I got trapped in this...dungeon."

Hermione raised her wand wearily and cried, "Petrificus Totalus," freezing Karissa. But the girl's eyes shone and unlocked herself. Still, she surprisingly disappeared at that moment. Where she went, they couldn't guess.

"I think we should get back to Hogwarts," began Harry softly.

"Yeah...Sort this all out," Blaise agreed.

Super Prep let out a small sob. "I failed?"

"No," said Blaise, turning to her. "You did a good job."

"I did?" she asked excitedly. "Wheee!"

And she shot up in the air, flying away.

"Well...If we can be of any help, you know where to find us," Super Punk said.

"Hey...You know that you two look alike...sort of?" pointed out Billy Goat to Harry and Super Punk.

"YeahaboutthatIgottagonowkaybye," Super Punk mumbled. He vanished as well, Billy Goat following.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
They sat in the Room of Requirement in deep silence. They had set Draco on a bed by himself--after Hermione waved her wand, and he was instantly clothed.

Ginny was lying on an identical bed on the other side of the room.

Everyone else sat on the floor stonily, waiting for someone to say something.

Finally, Blaise snapped to life. (Figuratively, of course.) He began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Hermione, through her silent tears.

"There's a catch. There is a huge, humongous catch," cackled Blaise.

Hermione's eyes searched Blaise. "Blaise," she began, "There is no spell that can reawaken the dead."

"You're right, there isn't," Blaise smiled gleefully. "But Draco isn't dead. He's sleeping! He's splinched! Haha, he died as a ferret but he's not a ferret so he's still alive! I won't be in limbo after all!"

"_Splinched?_" asked Hermione incredulously. "Blaise, what--How does _that_ work out?"

Blaise grinned. "Draco was in his Animagus form when the Avada Kedavra spell hit him. Oh, Hermione, didn't you know? Avada Kedavra only kills body. The only thing that kills a soul is a Dementor's Kiss, of course. But he was hit with Avada Kedavra, which killed the body he was in. Hermione, he wasn't _in_ his human body. He was in the ferret body!"

Hermione stared at him. "But...aren't they the same? Isn't an Animagus someone who can transform their body into an animal's?"

"No, Hermione...I forgot, this hasn't been discovered yet among you living lot...Hermione, Animagi use the bodies of animals that have passed away. That's why there is an illegal Animagus who's running around as a dodo. There could be a dinosaur. There could be anything as long as it has lived before. When you transform into an Animagus, you sort of...shed your human body, and it sort of just...lies there in non-existence. So your soul's doing the traveling, really. Which is why I'm positive Draco's alive. He died as a ferret, but his human body is still here!" Blaise smiled.

"So, where's his soul?" asked Hermione, her eyebrow twitching and her arms crossed in that smart-aleck sort of I've-just-found-the-flaw-in-your-brilliant-plan way.

"His soul's in the--" Blaise stopped short. "I can't tell you, but I promise if you give me Draco's body I will return with him alive. I swear. Just give me an hour, and he'll be back strutting around Hogwarts in no time."

Hermione sighed and nodded.  
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo  
Sure enough, an hour later, Blaise returned with a beaten-up Draco, who, for possibly the first time ever, smiled amiably.

"Oh, Draco," breathed Hermione. "I never, ever thought I'd be happy to see you alive." She grinned at him and hugged his arm. "You're a cute ferret," she admitted, touching his nose.

"Thank you. Sorry I can't say the same for you as a lioness," he teased, and Hermione actually laughed.

Blaise slapped his hand down on Draco's shoulder, holding it there. They both smirked with happiness at each other, but the pain in their eyes held more than anyone could tell. "It's good to have you back," they both said in unison, not even twitching.

Ginny laughed. It was scary how some people could be so perfectly made for each other, as friends and companions like Blaise and Draco or as romantic interests, like Harry and Hermione, who were sitting and watching from the couch, Ron seated comfortably near them. Scarier yet, she realized, was how perfectly _three_ people meshed together.

And so, she stepped forward between Blaise and Draco.

"Well! Isn't it the _little_ missy?" teased Blaise, making a show of looking down at her. (Blaise and Draco were both much taller than her, as she had inherited her mother's shortness, though she wasn't _quite_ as short.)

"Oh, shut up," Ginny grinned.

Blaise quietly stepped away and let Ginny and Draco take the limelight. They walked quietly to the other side of the room...a door closing conveniently behind them. as their eyes struggled to make contact without looking away quickly. Her eyes were such a warm chesnut brown, and his such a cold, icy gray...She knew that below the layers and sheets of ice lay a fragile person, shivering and waiting for warmth...And probably love too.

"So," Ginny started nervously. As a twelve-year-old girl, she'd had no trouble insulting Draco, so why was her heart pounding as she tried to be friendly to him now? "You're...Cocoa."

Draco smiled faintly. "I would guess so." Pause. "Honestly, Ginny, couldn't you think of a better name?"

Ginny laughed. "I thought it was cute. See, the last syllable in your name's 'co' so I said it twice and...Yeah."

How could she feel so stupid in front of someone she herself had called stupid many times before?

"I'm...I think I should say sorry," he started weakly.

She softened, her arm sort of being drawn to his arm. "No...no, don't be--"

"For all of the times I saw you...when you were...getting changed. And the like."

Ginny couldn't stifle another laugh. "And I guess I should say sorry for letting you escape into the hands of those--"

"--insufferable second-year Hufflepuff girls," he finished, scowling briefly. "No, that was me too...A great escape plot of mine that was foiled miserably by a bunch of twelve-year-olds."

They grinned, then there was a distressed pause. A small space of time where they gazed at each other, seeking words, seeking feelings, seeking..._anything._ The search was mutual, but that fact was not known to the both of them.

Finally, Draco spoke up.

"Ginny...I just have to..."

"Oh, Draco..." Ginny exhaled and sighed deeply but uneasily. "Don't...oh."

"I'm so sorry for this," he whispered.

And then he pulled her into the most important, breath-stealing, fateful kiss of both their lives.

By the time they pulled apart, Ginny had collapsed on the floor, crying.

"I'm sorry," Draco told her, his voice soft and low. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry...I shouldn't have...I'm sorry."

"No...No..." she sobbed. "I'm just...You don't even _know_! I didn't even...Oh!"

He knelt and stared fearfully at her hand before grasping it. She glanced up at him, but his eyes locked into hers as he pulled her up. He felt so much that he should look away, and then run. He didn't have the authority to be within her area. He didn't have the right to be in the same country. He didn't even have the right to be living in the same world as her. If it would make her happy, he would take that kiss back and obliviate her memory of any contact they'd made within time. If it would make her happy, he would stop breathing and die away, just to take away the pain he knew he would cause. Something had changed in him, while he was a ferret.

He'd fallen in love with Ginny Weasley, and he didn't think she'd fallen in love back.

And he'd kissed her, and he knew it would hurt.

His father had killed hers.

Her brother hated his family.

Her _family_ hated his family.

He'd kissed her, and he knew it would hurt her if he pursued this...Maybe as much as it would hurt him to leave.

He'd rather die for her...In fact, he had an example to prove it.

"Ginny...I'm just going to leave now. I can't do this to you."

"No!" she screeched, her breathing heavy and uneven. He turned and looked.

"You can't do _this_ to me. You can't...leave."

"Ginny, the two of us can't be together. It is the most ridiculously impossible thing in the world. Our fathers died killing each other. Your brother and my cousin loathe each other with a passion. Your mother and my mother are absolute rivals, to put it lightly."

"But that doesn't matter," she whispered. "You almost died for me...you almost _died _for me!"

He tried to come up with an excuse to that, but all he could do was crash her into him in a tight hug.

They stayed like that for a few moments, until Ginny couldn't stand the drama anymore and mumbled, "You're also the only boy who's ever seen me naked. I hope."

He let out a little laugh. "That may be true, but it doesn't change anything."

"Draco...They can't take you away from me. You're my beloved ferret," she joked.

He laughed again and kissed her. "Fine...Let's go back there and get the approval from your brother, first."

"Fair."

They got up and went to the door. She put her hand on the door, bit her lip, and then turned to look at him. He said out loud the thought she had in her head.

"On second thought...Are you sure about this?"

She smiled. "Look at it this way: If Ron Weasley is a big obstacle to you...then what does that say about you?"

Draco smirked at her, and then marched straight through the door. Ginny followed, giggling the entire time.

"So," Blaise started. "How was the snog session?"

Draco and Ron's jaws dropped in unison, while Ginny watched, giggling.

"Oh, don't hide it," Blaise added quickly. Hermione could swear on her life she saw pink rushing not only to Ginny's but also Draco's cheeks.

"...Fine!" Draco blurted out after recovering from the shock. He turned to Ron. "Weasel--I mean, Weasley, I know that my father was a bastard and my mother's the biggest bitch in the world, but I think that I am at least fairly all right, if not quite the gentleman, and I would like to ask you for your permission to...umm..."

"Snog my sister senseless?" asked Ron flatly.

Ginny nodded, then looked at Blaise, then burst out laughing.

Ron sighed. "If you must."

Ginny smiled at Draco, who turned around quickly. They left, back into the room they came from.

"...That went..." started Draco. Ginny's eyebrow quivered.

"Excellent? I know. Thanks to your slick wording, son of a bitch," Ginny replied promptly. He looked at her, and suddenly it was time for her to acquire _his _trademark smirk.

"Well? Surely you're a better kisser than _Harry Potter_. Give me your best, ferret boy."

_fin_

AN:

Oh. My. God.

I finished it.

dies

resurrection

WELL? How did you like it? Excited for the sequel? It'll be ten times better, I promise.  
I would like to mention that this is actually the first chaptered fic I've ever completely finished and published.  
I know, I know.  
Also: I realize that I left a few questions unanswered...How does Harry know Karissa? Who is she anyway? What is Blaise's mission? What's up with the whole D/G thing? What about H/Hr? Why were Pansy and Neville in the dungeon with Ron? What does 'This one's evil, woven' mean? Even one from the first chapter...Why is Ginny a dragon?  
Yes, I did this to you on purpose.  
Because I will answer them in the sequel...if you read it!  
So, do what any reader with at least any mild, if seemingly-nonexistent signs of a heart would do and PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, **REVIEW**!  
STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIPS AND REVIEW. hehe.

I LOVE YOU!

THANKS FOR READING!

SEE YA SOON!

LOVE,  
StopBlowingHolesInMyShips/Krystallia 3


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